Timelines and Tickers and Apps, Oh My!: The Complete Facebook Breakdown

Note: This blog post was originally posted on Knoxsocial's blog on September 27, 2011.

Editor’s Note: These are just some of the changes to Facebook. To get a complete list of updates visit this link. 

Wow. Alot of buzz going on in the social media realm last week. First, Google finished Beta and opens up Google+ to everyone. Second, Faceook did a News Feed overhaul (which was not so well-received). Third, Facebook held their f8 Conference last Thursday and made some pretty HUGE announcements. You may have missed some of these things but never fear because I’ve got the breakdown.

Google+

After three months of invites-only,  Google+ is now available to everyone. Furthermore, Google has finally given Goolge+ers the ability to search people and topics on Google+ (kind of seems like a no-brainer). For instance, a search for “amusement parks” would pull up conversations from users that have discussed this topic in addition to content from around the web.

Newsfeed Overhaul

Bye Bye “Top Stories” & “Most Recent”
Facebook has officially removed it’s “Top Stories” and “Most Recent” links to give you the most import news feed updates that have happened since the last time you logged on. For instance, if it’s been six days since you’ve last logged on, you will then see the top stories that have happened since then so that you don’t miss a beat. If you can’t go a day without logging on to Facebook then your news feed will be in chronological order. In addition to these changes, Facebook now allows you to customize your newsfeed by marking/unmarking updates that you deem most important or not important at all in your “Top Story” feed.

Ticker

In addition to this update is the introduction of the Ticker stream at the right corner of your homepage.

The Ticker is a real-time feed of everything that is happening within your social network.

Filters & Lists
Thought the changes stopped there? No way, Jose! Implementing a Google+-esque functionality, Facebook now lets you control who sees your posts as well as determine which posts show up on your feed – giving you the utmost control of your news feed (Goolge+ anyone?).

Although Facebook has had this concept available for some time, Facebook has recently made it a point to make this feature more prominent and easily accessible.

f8 Conference

Facebook revealed some crazy changes during the f8 Conference last Thursday. From the introduction to the new Profile Timeline, to  advanced media integration with partners such as Hulu and Spotify, to new action buttons that go beyond the normal “like” – you could say they’ve been keeping busy these last few months.

Profile Timeline
This new profile layout, I must say, is definitely something of merit.

Now you can have a complete timeline of all the important moments in your life portrayed through your past your photos, life events, wall posts, apps you’ve used, and places you’ve been – taking you all the way back to when you were born. Their goal is for everyone to fill in those gaps of time before Facebook ever existed so that you can have a complete view of your life.

Media Integration

Another awesome update is the integration of media partners to give your Facebook experience a slight face-lift.

Now you can listen to music on Spotify…..

watch a show on Hulu….

and read a news story through Yahoo News without ever leaving Facebook! In addition, you can see exactly what your friends are watching or listening to through the new Ticker and can even share the same experience by clicking on the their link.

“Like” turns into more verbs

Lastly, Facebook has decided to traverse past the trite “like” button and has revealed new actions, or Facebook Gestures, such as “watch”, “listen”, and “read”. And the fun doesn’t stop there as any Developer can manifest their own verb into a button. Perhaps it’s time for the often-suggested “dislike” button to soon emerge??

So that was a breakdown of some of Facebook’s new initiatives. But what does this mean for marketers? It’s hard to say but Mashable’s Todd Wasserman tells us that it will be even more imperative that businesses come up with innovative ways for fans to fuse their brand into a user’s life-stream whether it be via apps or engaging them with interesting and shareable content.

So the question is, what do you think about all of these changes? Do you think that these updates will have a major impact on marketers? 

Top 5 Things to Know about Facebook Page Updates

Note: Originally posted on Knoxsocial's blog on March 3, 2011

Facebook never ceases to out-do itself. Mark Zuckerburg and his clad of troops know how to give us advertisers what we want (at least most of what we want). And this is evident in their launch of new updates to Facebook Business Pages.

Not only have they upgraded the “Start a Facebook Page” so that it is clearer and more user-friendly….

but they’ve also made some big changes to their page’s  functionality. And at Knoxsocial we’re here to dig into what exactly it is you need to know.

1. See Through the Eyes of  Your Business Page

The image above shows you the steps to toggle between your user Profile and the Page you admin. Once you get there you’ll notice several interesting things.

The first thing you’ll notice is your homepage. You will no longer see a news stream consisting of your friends’ most recent posts, but instead will see posts from other businesses that you have “liked”. And “likes” are another change in themselves – what was formerly known as “page favorites” (which we’ll get into later). In other words, you are now able to see and engage from a Page’s point of view.

Page's Home Feed

2. Page the Social Butterfly

The second thing you’ll notice, and this is probably my favorite feature of the new page upgrades, is the ability to comment and like other posts as your Page. Previously, Pages were limited to communicating with others strictly on their own Wall, but we now have the ability to venture off to other Pages and start a conversation there thus enhancing meaningful business relationships. Not to mention a brand’s visibility.

Another added bonus?  We now have the ability to choose whether we prefer to comment/like a post as our Business Page or as our own personal account  – whereas before this option didn’t exist. W00hoo! I l<3ve options!

Post Comments on Other Pages As Your Page

3. Alert Alert!

The third upgrade that will help busy business owners tremendously is the email notifications sent each time a user comments or posts on your page.  So no more excuses, owners, for neglecting to respond to your fans’ comments and questions because you’ll be getting an email EVERY TIME!

4. Show Your Page’s True Colors

The fourth,  possibly least enthusiastic, upgrade is the ability to give your page a tad bit of personality. These changes are very subtle. For instance, your “My Page Favorites” now become “Likes” and are shown on the lef- nav of your page. These are displayed every time you as Business  “Like” a page – just as you would as a fan.

Page "Likes"

You also have the ability to organize which order your “Likes” are seen so that you can show the most prominent and relative ones at all times. In addition to these changes, you now have theability to control which images appear on the photostrip (photos at the top of the Page) which consist of the most recent photos uploaded to the wall and tagged.

5. Relating to the Visitor

The fifth and final set of important upgrades that you need to know about has to do with the noninvasive environment for the Facebook user.  What I mean by this is that your friends will no longer be bombarded by a thousand notifications to join your page or accept your ear of corn from Farmville, but will instead see your Page suggestions in the right-hand-column as they navigate through Facebook. An additional  feature that enhances the user experience is that Facebookers visiting your page can now see what mutual friends and pages they have in common with your page.

So what does this all really mean for a businesses? Well..

• Additional opportunities for visibility
• Deepen relationships even more with both users and pages
• Ability to quickly respond to comments or posts in real-time
• Capability to personalize pages and express personality
• Allow users to have a more natural, unintrusive experience

So that’s everything you need to know! Well, not completely everything but you can get additional info here.

What has been your experience with the new Page Upgrades? What do you like or not  like about the new Page updates?